The next-to-last game in the pre-ACC schedule is Friday night at home vs Alabama, 7pm WREK. The Lady J's travel to IUPUI on Sunday (2pm WREK).
Bama rolls into McCamish Pavilion with a 9-1 record. While the record is impressive, they haven't played the strongest schedule so far and that is reflected with their current 125 RPI ranking. They have only played 1 game on an opponent's home floor so far and they lost it at UT-Martin by 18 pts. Having said all that, this is still an SEC program and Tech hasn't exactly whipped a strong schedule or opponents ourselves. Tech is currently 151st in the RPI and can't afford to lose a home game like this.
On Sunday, Tech visits 7-3 IUPUI, who already has wins over the likes of Marquette and VCU. They lost at Louisville by only 9 pts in their last game. They host Belmont Friday. This will be a very difficult game for the Lady J's. IUPUI is currently ahead of the LJ's in RPI as they stand at 136. The Lady Jaguars are undefeated so far on their home floor. Hopefully Coach Jo's return to Indiana will be happier than our last trip a couple of weeks ago to Bloomington. And, hopefully, the fouls will be a little more balanced as well...though, I would not expect that to be the case.
It will be interesting to see how Zaire O'Neil's playing time is managed over these next 2 games. Her knee may need some time to recover on such short turnaround between a Friday evening game and a road Sunday afternoon game. These are good tests and hopefully the Lady J's can head into the holidays and a 10-day break before our next game with 2 wins and some confidence before the brutal ACC schedule begins at South Bend.
Bama rolls into McCamish Pavilion with a 9-1 record. While the record is impressive, they haven't played the strongest schedule so far and that is reflected with their current 125 RPI ranking. They have only played 1 game on an opponent's home floor so far and they lost it at UT-Martin by 18 pts. Having said all that, this is still an SEC program and Tech hasn't exactly whipped a strong schedule or opponents ourselves. Tech is currently 151st in the RPI and can't afford to lose a home game like this.
On Sunday, Tech visits 7-3 IUPUI, who already has wins over the likes of Marquette and VCU. They lost at Louisville by only 9 pts in their last game. They host Belmont Friday. This will be a very difficult game for the Lady J's. IUPUI is currently ahead of the LJ's in RPI as they stand at 136. The Lady Jaguars are undefeated so far on their home floor. Hopefully Coach Jo's return to Indiana will be happier than our last trip a couple of weeks ago to Bloomington. And, hopefully, the fouls will be a little more balanced as well...though, I would not expect that to be the case.
It will be interesting to see how Zaire O'Neil's playing time is managed over these next 2 games. Her knee may need some time to recover on such short turnaround between a Friday evening game and a road Sunday afternoon game. These are good tests and hopefully the Lady J's can head into the holidays and a 10-day break before our next game with 2 wins and some confidence before the brutal ACC schedule begins at South Bend.
